The Glynn Environmental Coalition’s message that a clean environment and a
healthy economy are inseparable helped form diverse partnerships and a
common vision for our community’s future during 2007. Building upon the
recent success in overturning the biased toxaphene analytical method,
efforts to assure Altama Elementary School is safe have us moving forward as
a united community. As we emerge from our industrial legacy and toxic sites
are cleaned up, impatience grows for those with horrendous toxic messes like
Hercules to be good neighbors and clean up their decades-old contamination.
Efforts to protect water resources continue as the GEC and our partner
organizations wait for the upcoming Georgia legislative session and passage
of the Water Management Plan, which has been developed over the past three
years. Our victories and successes are being noticed by local politicians,
developers, and investors who are increasingly becoming shareholders in
making coastal Georgia a safe and healthy place to live and raise our
families.

The Glynn Environmental Coalition (GEC) educated our community about how it
became so polluted and why we continue to have health-threatening pollution,
and developed a long-term action plan. We learned how the law was being
circumvented so industries could continue polluting our air, water, and
soil, hide toxic chemicals in our community, and keep from cleaning up their
toxic sites. Attitudes and expectations of our community have changed as
more realize a clean environment and healthy economy are key to our future.
Environmental agencies at the State and Federal level, which to a large
extent facilitated and made possible the environmental destruction, have
made some progress but continue to fall short of their regulatory
responsibility. More often than not, the environmental agencies have put
the interests of the polluter over those of our community. This realization
has been a key factor in the development of local partnerships to demand
action by those charged with protecting the health and welfare of citizens
in coastal Georgia. The realization that a clean environment is crucial
and inextricably linked to the future economic viability of our community
has grown over the past year.

Clean and Safe Schools & Neighborhoods

Overturning
the Toxaphene Analytical Method Which Hides Pesticide in Our Community
- The toxaphene pesticide analytical
method which hid this poison in our community has arguably been the largest
threat to the health and welfare of Glynn County families because this
poison is widespread and has contaminated soils, air, water, and seafood.
The list of places of concern is long, and includes Altama Elementary
School, the football stadium area, T Street Dump in the Turtle River
estuary, Terry Creek, and pervasive contamination at the Hercules Plant.

Altama Elementary
School Retesting - After our 9 year
effort, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that inappropriate
testing that did not report all toxic chemicals present was used at Altama
Elementary School during the containment of the Hercules 009 Landfill
Superfund Site. Recent efforts towards appropriate testing of the
playground and areas where toxaphene was found previously have met with an
EPA refusal to act. We want to remove all doubts about the safety of the
school grounds by having them tested appropriately and all chemicals present
reported. We partnered with the PTA President and school officials to
assure the

school grounds are safe, and are currently working with the Board of
Education to obtain appropriate testing. The local paper has supported our
position on this. Our goal is for all chemicals present in
toxaphene-contaminated areas at Altama Elementary School to be reported,
which will set precedent for the 6 other toxic sites containing this
pesticide. Currently, all partners are waiting for a response from the EPA.

In 2008: The GEC will continue to push for
re-sampling, by an appropriate method, of all toxaphene contaminated areas
previously sampled by the biased method, including Altama Elementary School,
neighborhoods, and 6 toxic sites containing toxaphene.

Hercules – A Bad Neighbor
- The GEC is very concerned over the
lack of progress in cleaning up the 39 toxic sites at the Hercules Plant
since it was ordered to do so 20 years ago. In 2007, the GEC attended public
hearings and submitted extensive comments on two proposed Hazardous Waste
Permits from the GA-EPD. Notable is that the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act Facility Investigation (RFI) has not been completed and not a
single Corrective Action Plan (CAP) has been developed and implemented for
any of the known 39 toxic waste sites on the Plant. Inspections and
investigations by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have found numerous cases of
leaking and poorly maintained equipment, untrained personnel operating the
Hercules Plant, and at least 175 cases in which the Emergency Response Team
has been contacted regarding spills or releases at the Plant. While
toxaphene was manufactured, an estimated 2 to 3 million pounds of this
powerful poison were released into Terry Creek and remain a threat to the
environment and to people eating seafood.

In 2008: The GEC will continue to advocate for an end
of EPA, GA-EPD, and Hercules inaction at the Plant, Terry Creek Site, and
other toxic sites where Hercules disposed of chemical wastes. Locally, the
GEC will continue building partnerships with community leaders, businesses,
and residents to resolve the recalcitrance of Hercules and the environmental
agencies that continue to allow Hercules to leave their toxic mess in our
community without regard to the economic blight it brings upon areas around
the Plant and around their other toxic sites.

Education and Health

Subsistence
Fishers Contaminated Seafood Awareness Project - The GEC and our partners (Glynn County
Health Dept. and the GA Dept. of Natural Resources) developed and have
distributed more than 20,000 advisory hand-outs in 2005 to now. Over 2,000
subsistence and recreational fishers were contacted one-on-one at fishing
spots in the advisory area by GEC community outreach workers. This
educational effort has expanded to include guest teaching in our schools,
presentations to community and civic organizations, and partnering of
students and researchers to further study the seafood contamination
problem. GEC volunteers expanded community outreach in subsistence fishing
areas and docks, and distributed advisory hand- outs to stores selling
fishing licenses.

In 2008: The GEC has printed an additional 12,000
updated flyers in English and Spanish, and are continuing community outreach
to subsistence fishing areas through volunteer efforts. If adequate funding
is obtained, these efforts will be greatly expanded in 2008. Laminated
advisories will continue to be posted in subsistence fishing areas. The GEC
has been invited to guest teach in Glynn County middle schools, educating
about "Contaminated Seafood and Your Health", which stresses the importance
of young women avoiding the chemicals in fish that will be passed to their
unborn children during fetal development.

Environmental
Education/Guest Teaching - The GEC
supports environmental education in our schools by continuing to do guest
teaching. Recently, the GEC was invited to teach contaminated seafood
awareness to classes doing a science project and cleanup in areas with
contaminated seafood.

Wicker Tuten was the winner of the
2007 science fair Lipscomb Award.

Facilitating Teacher,
Student, and Researcher Partnerships
- A teacher, student, and researcher are working together to test crabs in
Turtle River for contaminants. While guest teaching, the GEC became aware
of specific families with learning-challenged children who went to
contaminated areas to catch their seafood. The GEC partnered with the
University of Georgia Marine Extension Service to facilitate funding for
this research project.

GEC Support of
Student Science Fair Projects – The
GEC works with students on environmental science fair projects that further
community environmental education. The Lipscomb Award is presented each year
to a student with a science fair project the GEC judges find “best
epitomizes a concern and hope for a clean environment and healthy economy.”
In 2007, the award was won by Wicker J. Tuten for his project on soil
erosion control. The 2008 award recipient will be chosen on February 14th
and the award presented on February 16th.

GEC Volunteers Learn and
Do, and Much More – Volunteers are
what made the GEC successful in 2007. Special thank you to all who helped
prepare the newsletter for mailing, planned meetings and events, worked
around the office, or supported ongoing projects. Our volunteers went into
the field to learn to sample water in our estuary, some visited fishing
areas to carry on the Safe Seafood Campaign, and others photo documented
unwise development in marshes and cypress swamps for the Buy Dry Land
campaign. GEC meeting high points were the marsh walk with Eileen
Hutcheson, cookout and presentation by Satilla Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers
(with one BIG flathead catfish), the annual meeting, and the holiday
gathering.

In 2008: The GEC is working on moving from a meeting
to an activity oriented calendar. (See “GEC Taking a
LEAP”)

Gordon Rogers, Satilla Riverkeeper, holds an introduced
non-native Flathead Catfish removed from the river
in an effort to restore native fish stocks.

Water Issues

The recent drought has brought the importance of being a good steward of
our water resources to the forefront, and several initiatives are currently
underway. The mantra “property rights” has been used as an excuse by local
Zoning & Planning and County Commissions to allow variances to laws meant to
protect all land owners. What has been forgotten is that with rights come
responsibilities, which include:

¨2.)
Don’t endanger others, which includes not damaging the estuary and the
recreational and economic resources upon which others depend.

¨3.)
Cleanup when you make a mess, which includes erosion and sedimentation
controls and cleanup of chemical spills.

In January 2007, this cypress swamp was dry.
By November 2007, a home had been built in the area.
The water line is 3 feet up on the tree trunks.

Buy Dry Land Campaign
- We have addressed the broader
problem of wetland filling and subsequent flooding of homes built in the
wetland by participating in the design and launch of a statewide “Buy Dry
Land” campaign. The goal is to reduce development of wetlands by reducing
the willingness of people to purchase property which will flood. The “Buy
Dry” campaign was kicked off in November 2006, and immediately followed by a
drought and upsurge of development in wetlands and cypress swamps. The GEC
extensively documented some of these areas in preparation for the flooding
that will occur when the drought subsides.

In
2008: The GEC is prepared to
document the results of the unwise development in Glynn County when rainfall
returns to a more normal pattern. “A Swamp Always Remembers it is a Swamp,”
which will become evident to those who have purchased homes built in
wetlands. The GEC fears it will be the County that is sued when homes
flood, and the taxpayers will pay for the unwise decisions of the County
Commission.

Upland Development and
Estuary Preservation- The Georgia
Legislative Session had everyone working hard in 2007 to pass rules
requiring a minimum 50 foot buffer for developments next to estuarine
areas. Even though these efforts have met stiff resistance from the
developers, the goal of stopping further decline of our estuary and water
resources remains. The question being asked of the development community
is, “If not buffers, how do we reach the goal of passing on our resources to
our children as good or better than we received them?”

In 2008: The GEC will continue efforts to bring
consensus on what rules and regulations are needed to meet the goal of
preserving our estuarine resources that are so economically important to
coastal Georgia.

Erosion and
Sedimentation – GEC members will
continue watching for erosion and sedimentation violations, which the GEC
has been reporting for enforcement action on their behalf. This work is
largely done in partnership with the Altamaha Riverkeeper.

In 2008: Because the agencies responsible for
enforcing erosion and sedimentation laws have failed, and in some instances
have actually facilitated the destruction of resources, the GEC anticipates
legal action in 2008 to correct the problem.

Georgia Water Management
Plan – Many years of work on a
Coastal and statewide Water Management Plan have raised many concerns that
the final Plan may be a scheme to send water to Atlanta. As the Plan is
currently written, Atlanta is not even required to comply. The GEC and 152
organizations allied under the Georgia Water Coalition are very concerned
about the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s Plan and legislative
recommendations to be considered in January 2008. Inter Basin Transfers (ITB)
and reservoirs will take water, and the economic opportunities water brings,
from downstream communities. Whereas Atlanta’s current and separate Water
Plan has the force of law, the Plan proposed for the rest of Georgia is only
recommendations, and not a plan for managing water resources. What is
currently being proposed can more accurately be called a “Plan to make a
Plan”.

In 2008: The final Georgia Water
Management Plan is expected to go to the Georgia Legislature in January
2008. The GEC will continue to work with our alliance to assure the Water
Plan will:

¨Unite
instead of divide Georgia between the Atlanta Metro District and the rest of
Georgia

¨Protect
downstream communities

¨Be
adequately funded

¨Require
efficient water use everywhere, always

¨Ensure
water clean enough to drink and fish safe enough to eat

¨Provide
for public input and local action

Upland Stakeholder Committee:
Our alliance achieved legal successes
from challenging developments that had sought permits under the Coastal
Marshlands Protection Act; these victories led to the formation of the
Upland Stakeholder Committee. The GEC has actively commented during the
process and served a supporting role by videotaping every Committee
meeting. State of Georgia appeals of recent court victories have undermined
the Committee process but were appealed by coastal Georgia environmental
organizations and the Southern Environmental Law Center.

In 2008: The ongoing Cumberland Harbor case will most
likely determine the outcome of efforts to bring wise and sustainable
development to coastal Georgia. In cooperation with coastal organizations,
we will be working to prevent current state efforts to write rules weakening
the Marshlands Protection Act by allowing developers themselves to determine
whether their projects have any environmental impact.

Regulatory Loopholes that Allow Georgia-Pacific Pulp Mill Polluted Water
Releases: In partnership with GreenLaw and Altamaha
Riverkeeper (ARK), the GEC appealed the 2001 Georgia-Pacific Pulp Mill
wastewater (NPDES) permit. Some permit changes were made through settlement
talks, but color and temperature remain issues. As part of the settlement,
a one-year study plan of the Mill’s wastewater was made part of the permit.
The GEC and ARK did additional sampling of the Pulp Mill’s wastewater during
the five sampling events in 2005. Overwhelming evidence of pollution from
the pulp mill was presented to Georgia-Pacific during a 2006 meeting, but
they denied any impact to Turtle River.

Current Status: The pulp mill NPDES permit came up for renewal in
September 2006. In partnership with GreenLaw and Altamaha Riverkeeper, the
GEC submitted comments and specific NPDES permit requirements using the
documentation and studies we have completed, which the GA-EPD did not
include in the permit. In 2007, partner organizations and GreenLaw decided
not to appeal the permit at this time but will continue to monitor
wastewater discharges and proposed permits.

Air
Issues

Koch Industries bought the Georgia-Pacific Pulp and Paper Mill. Koch’s
dismal corporate environmental history is cause for concern, which increased
with their request to increase air pollution by 12,000,000 pounds per year.

Significant progress in reducing air pollution is now threatened by the GA-EPD
issuing several air permits to Georgia Pacific Pulp Mill to increase air
pollution by 12,000,000 pounds per year. Even though the GEC did comment
that the Pulp Mill had submitted conflicting information in the permit
applications, the GA-EPD still issued the permits. Efforts to build local
partnerships to challenge the air permits were not successful.

In 2008: The GEC will continue
to build upon efforts in our community to preserve the progress made in
reducing air pollution and odors over the past two decades.

Technical Assistance

LCP Chemicals Superfund Site - While significant progress has been made at
the LCP Chemicals Superfund Site, several unresolved and important issues
remain.

Identification of
the Area of Operation - The EPA has
limited testing to only the area occupied by the LCP Chemicals Superfund
Site when it closed, and has resisted community requests to test the entire
area of operations. We are forming alliances and plans for action to obtain
an unbiased accounting of all the toxic waste associated with the Superfund
Site. At least three times, the GEC has identified toxic areas thought to
be attributable to the Site outside the area the EPA has designated as the
Superfund Site. For example, in March 2005, 3500 cubic yards of toxic soil
were removed from the Goodyear Elementary schoolyard. The source of the soil
appears to be from a 1930-1950’s dumpsite related to operations at the
Superfund Site.

In 2008:
The GEC will continue efforts started in 2007 to identify all areas where
historical LCP Chemicals Superfund Site operations took place, and continue
to advocate for testing. Many of these areas are on Board of Education
property, near public schools, or in minority and low-income neighborhoods.

Mercury and Caustic Brine Removal from Drinking Water
- Over
300,000 pounds of mercury sit in a pool of caustic brine (pH ~13) which has
penetrated the confining layer and is entering our drinking water aquifer at
the LCP Chemicals Superfund Site. The GEC participated in the EPA’s
September public meeting concerning the plan to address the problem, and was
able to answer questions from the public the EPA was refusing to answer.
Noticeable at the “EPA’s” meeting was that EPA personnel were always
accompanied by Honeywell employees or their PR person when asked questions
by the public.

In 2008: The GEC will continue to monitor mercury and
caustic brine removal and provide information about the removal’s
effectiveness to our community. The removal action is expected to take at
least three years.

Progress has been made cleaning up the uplands at the
LCP Chemicals Superfund Site but groundwater and the marsh
remain extremely contaminated
and the fish from Turtle River unsafe to eat .

Blood Lead Level Testing
for Children - Community organizing
in the Arco neighborhood next to the LCP Chemicals Superfund Site resulted
in part of the neighborhood being sampled by the EPA, which found isolated
areas of lead. In partnership with the Glynn County Health Department, free
blood lead level testing is being offered and promoted throughout the
community.

In 2008: The GEC will continue to educate about the
importance for ALL parents to have their child’s blood lead level checked.
Efforts will continue to let owners of pre-1974 housing know about the risks
to their children from leaded paint.

The first work at the 84-acre Brunswick Wood Preserving Superfund Site was
to fix drainage to stop neighborhood flooding and clear trees in preparation
for consolidating contaminated soil for treatment. The drought made
working in lifeless ponds and wetland areas much easier.

Brunswick Wood Preserving Superfund Site

Stop flooding of homes by Superfund Site - Previous community organizing efforts
resulted in residents requesting our help when they were flooded by toxic
water from the Brunswick Wood Preserving (BWP) Superfund Site. Building off
efforts to help our Congressman to obtain Priority Ranking information about
the Superfund site, funding for year 1 of 3 to clean up the site has been
received from the EPA. The first action taken by the contractor was to
protect neighboring homes from flooding, and the GEC will continue to work
with residents throughout containment of the site.

In 2008: The GEC will monitor efforts to stop
neighborhood flooding from the Site when normal rain patterns return.

EPA Refusal to
Congressman - Community organizing,
meetings, media, and technical assistance resulted in a request from our
Congressman to obtain the Priority Ranking for the BWP site (this tells us
where the site is ranked in the line-up for funding). The EPA told our
Congressman he could not have the information. Our Congressman now
believes what we have said about EPA secrecy being a problem. Refusal to
respond to Congress means the EPA is a rogue agency, and we are working with
our congressman to fix the problem and obtain the information. Efforts to
obtain information will increase as the November 2008 elections approach.

In 2008: The GEC will work to end EPA refusal to
provide information to our Congressman and community. The question to be
answered in 2008: "Is the EPA answerable to Congress?" The answer might
come with the 2008 elections.

Other Toxic Sites

Progress! Of the 23 toxic sites in Glynn County, 8 have been cleaned up
or contained, 11 have completed investigations or had the source of
contamination removed, and 4 remain deadbeats, of which 3 are attributable
to Hercules. The Hercules Plant alone has 39 toxic waste sites with
incomplete investigations, and none have been cleaned up.

In 2008: The GEC will continue to work in favor of
cleanup for our industrial legacy. The question to be answered in 2008 is,
“If Hercules continues to refuse to clean up their mess, should they be
allowed to remain in our community?”

Organizational Development

Leadership and Enhancement Assistance Program
(LEAP) of the Environmental Support Center - The GEC Board and membership will be working
through the LEAP program to do an in-depth evaluation of the GEC, improve
our public image, and broaden our fundraising and Board diversity during
2008. This is important since the GEC now represents the majority of
citizens in Glynn County. A facilitated retreat will be held January 26-27,
2008, to develop plans for the future of the GEC. See sidebar.

Phone Calls, Knocks on the Door, and Other Unexpected Requests for GEC Help

The GEC has become a recognized resource for environmental information
and help in our community and requests have grown each year. In 2008, we
anticipate many calls from real estate purchasers for information about
toxic threats near property and homes, help finding the right agency to call
concerning an environmental problem, and help in filing complaints. The GEC
fills the environmental watchdog roles that are missed by local, state, and
federal agencies, which are more of a floor with big cracks than an
environmental safety net.

In 2008: The GEC will expand our community role as
the environmental authority, resource, and visionary for our community’s
future.

Emerging Issues We Anticipate in 2008

The GEC continues to receive reports that a private company is planning
to import New York City waste (up to 11,000 tons per day) to the Port of
Brunswick, and transport by rail through poor minority areas of Brunswick to
a private landfill in an adjoining county.

In 2008: The Broadhurst Landfill expanded by over 500
acres in 2006, including access to the railroad. We continue to form
partnerships in anticipation of fighting this plan to turn southeast Georgia
into New York City’s dumping ground.

Members, Supporters, and Volunteers

We
are grateful for all the GEC members, supporters, and volunteers who share
our vision and have helped in our effort to make our community a safe and
healthy place to live and raise our families. Many of our successes have
only come because we have been able to stay diligent over the years it has
taken to prevail, and our victories are due to your continuing support. We
offer a special thank you for the grants from: